


College Machina

by Moonbear_Meliox



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2019-07-29 19:58:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16271273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonbear_Meliox/pseuds/Moonbear_Meliox
Summary: (Y/N) is another normal college student. Living in Emon with her roommate Matt, attending Emon University and hanging out with friends when she can. It's a normal life. Until a night of drinking leads to a sword appearing out of nowhere.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> After 6 months of writing, with the help of my friend Cider, I have finally completed the first chapter of my Vox Machina College AU. It will be a modern retelling of the first two arcs of Campaign 1 and then I will branch it off into its own story. And it takes place in college. A few things will have to be cut, the group will not vist Vasselheim, Keyleth doesn't really embark on her armente(unless you count graduating college) and Tiberius will not be in this at all. Somethings have also been changed to fit the story which you will see in later chapters. I am so proud of this and I hope people like it. I will be posting this story here on Ao3 and my Tumblr. Enough rambling. I hope you enjoy the first chapter of College Machina.

_“Why the hell is he not dying?”_

_“He’s got to get tired eventually. It just looks like our spells are bouncing right off him.”_

_“Does he even bleed?”_

_“Only one way to find out. We need to get close.” A spell was shot at the cloaked figure to distract him while (Y/N) charged towards the figure, her sword raised ready to strike. The figure turned towards her, ignoring the spell as if it were nothing. A smile became visible from under the cloak. The figure raised their hand, releasing a bright flash of light that shot out, blinding everyone in the chamber and hitting (Y/N) as soon as she was in striking distance. (Y/N) felt the life being pulled out of her body as her vision became blinded by the light..._

Knock! Knock! Knock! (Y/N) jolted awake at the sound of knocks at her bedroom door.

“(Y/N), wake up. You don’t want to be late for class.” A male voice said from the other side of the door. (Y/N) rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she sat up.

“I’ll be out in a minute.” She mumbled tiredly through a yawn. She looked at the alarm clock on her bedside table, it read 7:00. (Y/N) sighed and stood up, stretching her tired limbs in the process. Brief glimpses of sunlight streamed through the blinds that covered the bedroom window. After quickly getting dressed, (Y/N) went out of her bedroom, and made her way into the small kitchen where her roomate Matt stood over the stove making breakfast. “Morning.” (Y/N) said as she grabbed a coffee mug and poured herself some coffee.

“Morning.” Matt replied. “Sleep well?”

“Yea. A little tosses, a little turns. I slept fine.”(Y/N) took a sip from her coffee and walked over to the two person dining table and took a seat. Matt placed down two plates of pancakes and bacon on the table and took a seat across from her. “Another sunny day in Emon...” (Y/N) said quietly while looking out the window with her coffee mug held close in her hands.

(Y/N) has lived in Emon with her roomate, Matt, for as long as she could remember, and has been attending college classes at Emon University as a (C/M). Matt’s also attends the university but he’s majoring in Creative Writing. (Y/N) soon finished her breakfast and grabbed her bag and books.

“It’s Thursday, so everyone's probably heading over to Gilmore’s tonight if they can make it. Are you sure you don’t want to come?” (Y/N) asked Matt as she opened the front door to leave.

“No. I need to finish up a project, I’m good.” Matt said.

“Ok. I’ll see you later.”(Y/N) said as she left the apartment.

* * *

 

“Officer, this is really just a big misunderstanding. I was grabbing that file for my boss.” Vex said as she was lead down a corridor she was all too familiar with. The officer said nothing. “Look. If you could just let me call him, he can clear all of this right up. I am allowed one phone call after all, aren’t I?”

The officer stopped walking to unlock one of the holding cells and pushed Vex in without saying a word. Vex sighed in defeat and turned around for the officer to unlock her handcuffs. The officer unlocked them, took them off her wrists, and walked away.

“Vax is going to kill me.” Vex said to herself.

“What did you do?” A voice asked from the cell next to hers. Vex turned her head to see a man with white hair and thin round glasses sitting down in his own holding cell. Small hints of exhaustion were visible on his face and a small oil stain was present on his left hand

“I was trying to find information on a person at an office I don’t work at and I got caught. What about you?” Vex asked the man.

“Same thing actually. I broke into a scientist’s office trying to find something.” The man said

“Did you find what you were looking for?” Vex asked as she pressed her head to the bars separating their cells

“Unfortunately no. Did you?”

“Yea. I have it retained in my brain.” Vex said while pointing to her head. There was a brief moment of silence between the two strangers before the man sighed and stood up.

“Well we’re going to be here awhile, might as well tell you my name. I’m Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Kowalski de Rolo lll. But you can call me Percy.” The man said, as he walked over and stuck his hand out for Vex to shake

“Geez, that’s a mouthful. I’m Vex.” Vex said and shook Percy’s hand.

* * *

 

Classes finished, (Y/N) retired to her room in her apartment to finish homework. Or, she was, until the ringing of her phone reached her ears. She looked at the screen to see her friend Vax calling. (Y/N) moved her binder off her lap and grabbed her phone to answer the call.

“Hello?”

“Hey (Y/N), can you come with me to pick up my sister? She got arrested again, and I need to bail her out.” Vax’s voice said over the phone.

“I was wondering when she would end up back in there. Yea, I’ll come.” (Y/N) said.

“Thanks. I’ll be by your apartment soon.” Vax hung up and (Y/N) left her room, walking into the living room where Matt was on the couch reading a book.

“Vex got arrested again. Vax is coming over to pick me up so we can bail her out.” (Y/N) told him.

“Ok. Just don’t get arrested yourself. I might not bail you out.” Matt said while not looking up from his book, but there was a hint of a small smile. (Y/N) chuckled. “I won’t.” She said. She exited her apartment and went down to the lobby to wait for Vax. One honk from a minivan later, (Y/N) and Vax took the all too familiar route to the police station.

“So what did she do this time?” (Y/N) asked Vax as they drove.

“We had a client that wanted to investigate their friend’s death. They think it was murder when it was labeled as a double suicide by the cops. Vex was supposed to gather research on the victims, and I’m guessing it didn’t go well, seeing as we have to go and bail her out.” Vax said. Vex and Vax run an online private eye business where they help people with cases the police wouldn’t. The two of them are majoring in Criminal Justice, and want to go into law enforcement once they both graduate.

“What do you think it is?” (Y/N) asked.

“The stab wound and the slit throat make it look like one killed the other and then took her own life. But, to spare you my gory explanation, I believe it’s murder.” Vax said. The two drove in silence for awhile before they pulled up to the police station.

“Hi. I’m here to bail my sister Vex out of jail.” Vax said to the officer at the front counter after he and (Y/N) entered the police station. The officer handed paperwork for Vax to fill out and then lead them down a hall to the holding cells.

“Brother! What a surprise.” Vex said as Vax and (Y/N) approached her cell. “Hello, (Y/N) darling.”

(Y/N) gave Vex a little wave as her eyes wandered to the other holding cell next to Vex. Holding a familiar face

“Percy? Why are you in here?” (Y/N) asked in surprised as she walked over to his cell.

“I got caught doing that thing I told you about.” He said. (Y/N) sighed and turned to the officer.

“Has his bail been posted?” The officer nodded and told her the price. “I’ll pay it.”

“No. (Y/N) don’t it’s fine.” Percy insisted.

“I’m not going to just leave you in here. You can pay me back by buying me a drink tonight.”(Y/N) said as she followed the officer to fill out the bail paperwork. They soon came back and the officer unlocked both cells.

“Mind telling me how you ended up in this situation?” Vax asked his sister as soon as she stepped out of the holding cell.

“I wasn’t that stealthy when searching. As you can tell from where we’re standing” Vex commented.

“Well don’t do it again. Next time, I’m going to be the one to look for information. You can’t keep getting caught or they’ll keep you here. Understand?” Vax told his sister, almost pleading

“I understand. You’re the stealthy one anyway.”

“Damn right.”

“I need a drink.” Vex sighed.

“So do I. Is Scanlan playing tonight at Gilmore's? We could stop by and watch him play and probably get to see Grog! Plus, Vax gets free drinks there.” (Y/N) suggested.

“I’ll call Keyleth and Pike, to see if they wanna join us.” Vax said as he pulled out his phone.

“Percy, care to join us?” (Y/N) asked as she turned to face Percy.

“I don’t want to intrude.” Percy said.

“You wouldn’t be intruding darling. Come on, you’re joining us.” Vex said as she took Percy’s hand and lead him outside the police station. (Y/N) took out her phone and sent a quick text to Matt telling him that she was getting drinks with everyone and that she’d probably be home later. Vax lowered his phone as he hung up his call.

“We’ll meet Keyleth and Pike there. Now, let’s go get drinks!”

Gilmore’s Glorious Goods is an extravagant pub that could only be described as _“the world's worst or best funhouse to enter.”_ On the outside it looks to be a small and quiet pub to visit, but on the inside it is so much bigger. Walls are adorned in vibrant purples and blues, and the pub is stocked with many assortments of alcohol and whisky. And of course, it is all run by the glorious Gilmore himself. No one is on a first name basis with Gilmore. No one except for Vax.

“Shaun! You beautiful, glorious bastard, your favorite patrons have arrived!” Vax announced as he walked into the pub. A very handsome man with long, thick black hair tied into a ponytail stood pouring a drink at the bar next to a goliath of a man. He looked up at Vax smiled.

“Vax! It’s been ages. Hello everyone.”Gilmore said. He put the poured drink aside and walked over to Vax. The two of them embraced, Gilmore giving Vax a peck on the cheek.

“How have you been my friend? Has everything been well?” Vax asked as they let go of each other.

“The bar’s been doing great as have I. What about you? The professors aren’t working you too hard, are they?”

“No. I’ve been doing ok.” Vax said.

“Well that’s good. Customers are going to start coming soon, so I need to get ready, but grab a table and order whatever you want.” Gilmore announced to everyone and went to the back room which had beaded strings hanging from the top of the door frame. (Y/N)’s attention moved from Gilmore’s retreating form, to a short, but dashingly handsome man standing by a small stage.

“Scanlan, got any new songs on your set tonight?” (Y/N) asked the man as she walked over to him. The man looked up from the guitar he was tuning and smiled.

“I might have one or two. It depends on if a certain someone shows up.” He said. Scanlan plays at Gilmore’s every Thursday to make some coin. He also attended Emon University with everyone else and majors in music. He also has a huge crush on Pike.

“She’ll be here soon Shorthalt, don’t worry.” (Y/N) said and turned to Percy. “C’mon, you owe me a drink.”

(Y/N) lead Percy over to the bar where a tall, buff guy was pouring drinks.

“Hey Grog. How you’ve been?” (Y/N) approached the man at the bar. Grog was a tall, muscular man who works at Gilmore’s. He lives with his buddy, Pike who was the one to introduce him to everyone else. Grog dropped out from Emon University because he thought the classes were too difficult.

“Hey (Y/N). I’ve been good. How’s that edumcation? Pike’s been complaining about a bunch of tests she been having to study for. Are they working you guys too hard?” Grog asked with his deep voice.

“Not really. Pike and I have two completely different majors, so I don’t know what they're assigning to the medical students. But she’ll be here soon, so you can ask her then.” (Y/N) told him. Grog nodded.

“So, what’ll it be tonight? You want the usual or something a little bit stronger?” Grog asked.

“No alcohol tonight. I have a test tomorrow. How about a Shirley Temple. What about you Percy?” (Y/N) asked.

“Uh, just a water.” Percy replied.

“Grog this is Percy. He’s a friend from college. Percy, this is my friend Grog.” (Y/N) said, introducing the two to each other.

“You must be a smart person. With your glasses and clothing choice.” Grog told Percy.

“I will take that as a compliment.” Percy said with a small hint of a smile.

The bar soon filled with patrons and acquired a joyful tone. Scanlan entertained people with songs and Grog mixed and poured drinks for anyone who payed. Not long after Keyleth and Pike arrived and joined everyone. Keyleth was tall with long red hair while Pike was short and had white hair and a scar running along her left eye. Keyleth's major is in Earth Science and Pike's is nursing.

“Pike!” Grog exclaimed when she entered the bar. He stopped pouring a drink for a patron and ran over to hug his small buddy.

“Aww Grog. I’d only been gone for most of the day.” Pike told him. Although it was muffled under Grog’s muscled arms.

“But it felt like for so long.” Grog said with sadness

“Geez you can’t even tell that they live together.” Keyleth said with a laugh as she approached (Y/N) and embraced her with a hug.

“I know right. To Grog it’s like she’s coming back after a year.” (Y/N) laughed and hugged her back.

“How have you been? How’s your dad?”

“I’m doing good. My dad’s ahead in the polls and with a good amount of votes he’ll have a spot on the board.” Keyleth informed (Y/N).

“Did Percy tell you about the “thing” he was going to do?” (Y/N) asked Keyleth. Keyleth nodded.

“Yea. What happened? He’s hasn’t texted me or answered my calls.” Keyleth replied while checking her phone.

“I ended up bailing him out when me and Vax went to pick up Vex. Vex actually dragged him to come drink with us.” (Y/N) said and pointed in the direction of where Percy was standing, looking out of place and awkward.

“I need to have a word with him about all this. I’ll meet you at the bar.” Keyleth made her way over to Percy while (Y/N) went back to enjoy her drink. When she was halfway done, Vex took a seat next to her.

“So (Y/N), who's your little friend I met at the police station?” She asked (Y/N), taking a sip from her own drink.

“Percy? I met him last year during my undergrad. He’s an engineer major.” (Y/N) answered.

“And are you two...dating?” Vex asked with a curious yet sly look.

“Oh, uh, No. Nothing like that. We’re just friends” (Y/N) explained with a tint of pink to her face.

“Him and Keyleth seem pretty close.” Vex said, nodding in the direction of Percy and Keyleth, who looked to be having a lively conversation.

“That’s because they’re best friends. I introduced Percy to Keyleth a month after I met him and they hit it off. Why are you asking?”

“I don’t know he just seems… interesting.” Vex said while giving a certain look in Percy’s direction.

* * *

 

The evening soon came to a close and glasses were soon drained and emptied. Everyone said goodbye to each other with a reminder to come again next Thursday. Keyleth got a little too drunk so Vax volunteered to drive her home. Scanlan began to pack up his things with Pike’s help, who was waiting for Grog to clean up.

“I’ll give you a ride home, since you drove with my brother to pick me up.” Vex told (Y/N) as they exited Gilmore’s. “Percy, do you need a ride?”

“No. I’m good, my apartment is just a quick walk. But thank you for offering.” Percy replied to Vex. “And thank you for dragging me along to come drink with you. I quite enjoyed myself.”

“No problem darling. You can hang out with us anytime you like.” Vex said with a small, flirtatious smile. Percy gave a small smile back.

“Well then I guess I will see you soon. Thanks for bailing me out of jail (Y/N).” Percy bid the two a goodnight and began to walk home.

“He’s a charming fellow, isn’t he?” Vex said as she unlocked and opened the car door.

“Very proper.” (Y/N) said. The two drove, filling the silence with recalling certain things from the night and soon arrived at (Y/N)’s apartment complex.

“Tell your brother to text me that Keyleth got home ok. I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch.” (Y/N) said to Vex as she got out of the car.

“I will. See you tomorrow darling.” Vex said and drove off after (Y/N) had entered the building. She made her way up the steps and was soon on her floor.

(Y/N) was almost standing in front of her apartment door when something felt off to her. The light’s seemed to get dimmer and the air felt heavy as an immense weight seemed to be placed on (Y/N)’s shoulders. (Y/N) looked around but found she was the only one in the hallway. A flash of light covered her vision as suddenly, (Y/N) now stood not in the hallway, but in a chamber with walls made of stone.

Surprised, (Y/N) frantically looked around, not knowing where she was. There didn’t seem to be an exit anywhere. The walls had many cracks with tangled, thorny vines growing out of them. Her eyes searched the room for anything until they landed on a large stone in the center of the room with light shining down on it from an opening in the roof. What caught (Y/N)’s eye was the hilt and part of a sword sticking out of the stone. She slowly walked over to the stone to get a better look. It had a long blade with runes inscribed on one side, but she couldn’t tell how long the entire blade actually was. Its handle was fairly simple, except for a gem on its hilt. _“Sort of reminds me of Excalibur…”_ (Y/N) thought as she grabbed the sword’s handle. _“Wonder if I can pull it out like Arthur.”_ she joked in her head.

She gave the hilt a pull. The sword moved a few inches. (Y/N) used both her hands and pulled harder, until the sword was pulled all the way out of the stone. (Y/N) stumbled backwards a little but was able to right herself. She looked down at the sword that was now in her hand. The runes she had saw before continued down to the tip of the blade, but they were now glowing, and so was the gem on the hilt. They soon glowed so bright that (Y/N) had to shield her eyes. Everything disappeared in a sudden flash and (Y/N) was now on the floor in the hallway of her apartment complex. She looked around confused.

Her heart beated rapidly in her chest. _“What the hell was that?!”_ (Y/N) thought. She looked at her hand but no sword was there. (Y/N) leaned her back up against the wall as she tried to process what the fuck just happened to her. _“Was that...was that real?”_ She closed her eyes and took in slow breaths, trying to returning her heart rate back to normal. _“No. It was nothing. Something must have been in my drink. Yeah… Gilmore must have added something. You know he likes to experiment sometimes with his drinks...”_ But (Y/N) thought it was crazy to blame what she had just saw on something she knew wasn’t true. But where else was she supposed to find a reasonable explanation to what she just saw? She could just be tired from staying out late, and her brain just wants to shut down, wanting sleep.

“I’m just tired.” (Y/N) quietly said to herself. Suddenly the wall she was leaning on flew backwards. (Y/N) fell, landing on her back and looked up to see Matt staring down at her.

“How drunk are you?” He questioned, his voice laced with concern and a little bit amusement.

“Actually I'm completely sober. ”She replied. Matt gave her a quizzical look.

“Says the the one who was leaning up against her own apartment door.”

“I tripped.” (Y/N) lied. To be honest, she didn’t know how she ended up on the floor. But she also didn’t know what just happened or if what she saw was actually real. “Ok...”Matt said in a tone that didn’t sound convinced. (Y/N) got up off the floor.

“Well it’s late and I have a big test tomorrow, so I should really go to bed. Goodnight” (Y/N) rambled as she hurried to her bedroom. Matt gave her a confused goodnight as she shut the door.

 _“That wasn’t real.”_ (Y/N) thought to herself as soon as the door shut. The shock of what just happened coming back. _“It couldn’t have been.”_ She was tired and her brain was shutting down from the college work, that’s the perfect and reasonable explanation to what she thought she saw. Right? That’s how she could explain what happened. The explanation is foolproof.

It was for the few seconds (Y/N) believed it until she felt something cold pressed up against her upper chest. She looked down to see a necklace with a charm laying around her neck. (Y/N) felt around and unclasped the necklace to get a better look as she held it in her hand. The charm was in the shape of a sword and had the exact same design as the sword she pulled from the stone. ‘Where the hell did this come from?” (Y/N) didn’t have this on her when she entered the building. So where did it come from? It had the exact same runes running along the blade and the same red gem at the end of the hilt. (Y/N)’s heartbeat began to quicken again. She closed her fingers around the necklace and lowered her now shaking hands to try and calm down. “This isn’t real.” But the necklace in her hand felt real. She could feel its warmth press up against the palm of her hand. Then, a jolt of energy that (Y/N) had never felt before shot through her hand, travel up her arm and through her body.

She no longer felt a necklace enclosed in her hand, but a familiar hilt of a sword. (Y/N) looked down to see that she was holding the same exact sword, with the same runes and gem on the hilt, that she had pulled from the stone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On top of freaking out that a sword just appeared out of nowhere, (Y/N) finds out that the rest of Vox Machina went through a similar experience of what she went through and that someone needs their help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay Chapter Two! Me and Cider finally finished Chapter of the College Au. Sorry to keep you guys waiting. I will warn you now that this chapter has a lot of repetition so if it is boring I apologize. But try not to skip this chapter because it does reveal things relative to the plot. Any ways, I hope you enjoy!

It took every ounce of (Y/N)’s willpower to not scream and throw the sword that had magically appeared across the room. If (Y/N) was tired before, she was definitely awake now, so the explanation that her brain was shutting down was thrown right out the window. To be safe, she pinched herself to see if all of this craziness was just a dream. a small pain shot up. She wasn’t dreaming. This was definitely real. (Y/N) sat down on her bed and took a breath to calm herself down. She ran her fingers along the runes engraved in the sword. They felt cold to the touch. 

“What the fuck is happening?” (Y/N) whispered to herself. Magic wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. But the  _ magical _ sword that appeared out of nowhere proved that magic  _ is  _ actually real.

**_RING RING!_ **

(Y/N) jumped at the sound of her phone ringing. A jolt shot through her hand and the sword changed into the necklace it was previously in. (Y/N) shook her head in disbelief and grabbed her phone. The screen showed that Keyleth was calling. 

“H-hey Keyleth. What’s up?” (Y/N) said, her voice a little shaky.

“(Y/N)! I-I need you to come over. I don’t know what happened but I was just getting a glass of water and my sink exploded and it won’t stop and--” Keyleth’s voice came through in a frantic panic attack.

 “Keyleth calm down. What’s wrong?” (Y/N) said with worry.

“I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t-- Can you please just come over? Please?” Keyleth pleaded. She sounded close to tears.

 “Yea. Yea, sure. I’ll be right over.” (Y/N) replied.

 “Ok. Please hurry.” Keyleth said. (Y/N) hung up the phone and looked at the necklace in her hand. She sighed and placed it in her jacket pocket. Stealthy, she crept out of the apartment, making sure to not wake up Matt, and made her way to Keyleth’s house.

* * *

The first thing (Y/N) heard as she approached Keyleth’s apartment door was the sound of rushing water. She knocked on the door and a few seconds later it was opened by Keyleth.

“(Y/N)! Thank god!” Keyleth said while engulfing (Y/N) in a hug.

  “H-hey. What’s wrong?” (Y/N) said as she wrapped her arms around Keyleth. She was shaking. Keyleth let go of (Y/N) and lead her into her apartment. The sink in Keyleth’s kitchen was spouting water. A huge puddle had formed at the bottom.  

“I-I I don’t know. I went to get water from the sink because I had a headache and I went to put my hand under the water and it just sprayed everywhere. I can’t make it stop.” Keyleth started hyperventilating. The water seemed to rush out faster as her breath quickened. (Y/N)’s eyes widened as she watched the water. She grabbed Keyleth by the shoulders.

“Key, you need to calm down.” (Y/N) said, making Keyleth face her.

 “But-”

“Take deep breaths. Don’t look at the sink, look at me. Keyleth. Just breathe, slowly. In and out. Don’t focus on the sink, block it out.” (Y/N) instructed her. Keyleth gave (Y/N) a panicked look of confusion. 

“Just trust me” (Y/N) told her. Keyleth gave her a small nod and closed her eyes as she took in deep breaths. The water slowly stopped gushing out of the sink and soon went down to a trickle. Keyleth opened her eyes and saw that the sink had stopped spouting water, but she still looked on edge.

“I don’t know what the hell is going on. I didn’t touch the sink at all.” Keyleth explained. (Y/N) was on edge as well. The water seemed to flow with Keyleth’s emotions. Water doesn’t do that. Just like how a sword doesn’t just appear out of thin air.

“Keyleth, this question may sound weird, but did you…’see’ anything before you turned on the sink.” (Y/N) asked.

“What do you mean by ‘seeing’ something?” Keyleth asked (Y/N)

 “This is going to sound crazy, but did you, I don’t know, have a vision or something of the sort before you went to turn on the sink?”Keyleth scrunched her face in thought

“Yea. I saw...something. Or multiple things. They were flashes but I saw a forest, then fire, then I saw some leaves blowing in the wind, and the last one I saw were some waves. I might have also seen a white tiger but I just thought I was still drunk or somehow I was getting tired from the coffee Vax made me. I guess I just thought that I should just get a glass of water to clear my head, but-” Keyleth explained to (Y/N). She sighed and rubbed her forehead. “I just...I don’t know what is going on.”

 “It happened to me too.” (Y/N) said. Keyleth looked at her in shock. “I didn’t see what you saw, I actually went somewhere. I was almost at my apartment door when the air started feeling heavy. I saw a flash of light and suddenly I was standing in a room, or a cave, the walls were made of stone and had vines growing down them. In the middle of the room was this stone with a sword sticking out of it. I didn’t know what do, but I tried to pull the sword out of the stone, kind of as a joke I guess, and it actually came out. There were these runes on it that started glowing. I had to close my eyes, but when I opened them, I was back in my apartment hallway.” (Y/N) explained to Keyleth.

“Did anything happened after? Like, did your sink explode?” Keyleth asked.

“I thought I was just tired. I rushed to my room after saying goodnight to Matt and tried to calm myself down. Then I felt this around my neck.” (Y/N) pulled out the sword necklace from her jacket pocket and showed it to Keyleth. “I don’t know where it came from. I held it in my hand...and it turned into the same sword I had pulled from the stone in that “vision” or whatever I saw.” (Y/N) said.

“How did it do that? Turn into the sword.”

“I honestly don’t know. I had it clutched in my hand when it suddenly transformed and-”

Keyleth’s house phone started ring and both girls jumped. Keyleth walked over to it and answered the call.

 “Hello?...Uh yea Percy I’ll be right over. (Y/N)’s with me at the moment-... _.. _ Ok. We’ll be there soon.” Keyleth hung up the call. “Percy wants us to come to his apartment. He sounded worried. Maybe, he experienced what we did.”

 “Maybe. Let’s go.”

* * *

When they had arrived at Percy’s place, he appeared disheveled and anxious.

“Hey Percy. What’s wrong? You seemed a little shaken up over the phone.” Keyleth asked as Percy let her and (Y/N) into his apartment. 

 “I made a gun.” Percy blurted out, as he turned around to face his two friends.

 “Pardon?” (Y/N) said.

 “I made a gun. Like an actual, working gun.” Percy stated.

 “A gun? How?” Keyleth asked.

 “I’d rather show you it first before I tell you how.” Percy said. Keyleth nodded. Percy lead the them to the entrance of his “workshop” as he likes to call it. It was really his garage that he uses as a place to tinker. Many materials and tools were literted around the floor. In the middle of the room was Percy’s tinker table. And on top of it was finely crafted pepperbox gun. (Y/N) stepped closer into the workshop to get a better look, Percy seemed to want to be as far away from the thing as possible.

“Percy...did you make this gun after you...saw something, or had a vision of the sorts?” Keyleth asked Percy.

 “Well… yes. In a way, I suppose. How did you know?”

 “Me and (Y/N) also had visions before something happened.” Keyleth said.

 “What was it? What did you guys see?”

“Keyleth and I saw different things.” (Y/N) explained what she and Keyleth saw and showed him the necklace.

“You said it transformed into a sword. How?” He asked. 

“I don’t know. I had it held in my hand when it transform-”(Y/N) had the necklace clutched in her hand when it suddenly transformed into the sword. Percy and Keyleth’s face turned shocked. “Or I guess it just does it whenever I want it to.”

 “Incredibile.” Percy silently exclaimed.

“You weren’t kidding.” Keyleth said.

 “What about you Percy. What did you see?” (Y/N) asked. Percy looked at (Y/N), then looked at the gun and sighed.

“What I saw wasn’t really a vision… it was more like a dream. I came home after saying goodbye to you and Vex, and went right to bed because I felt very tired. I remember standing in what I can only assume to be a void of some sort, and there was this roaring cloud of smoke in the middle of it. It said it could help me.  After that, I woke up and immediately went to my workshop and made this.” Percy said, holding up the pepperbox by its 6 barrels. “I didn’t feel like myself. It was almost as if I was in a trance when I was creating it. I knew exactly what to do, how to make all of the parts, and I put it all together without any blueprints in an incredible amount of time. It was all laid out perfectly in my mind. When I realized what I made...I called you.” 

“I don’t think this is a coincidence that we all saw, or did something weird.” Keyleth said in a serious tone.

“No. I don’t think this is a coincidence either. But how did this happen to the three of us?”(Y/N) asked.

“That’s a question we don’t have an answer to, but I think that there’s an even more important question here.” Percy said. (Y/N) stared at the sword in her hand and glanced at the pepperbox that Percy held.  _ “Why?” _

* * *

Keyleth, (Y/N) and Percy didn’t even think of going back to sleep or to return to their own homes. They stayed on the couch in Percy’s living room, Keyleth snuggled closely to (Y/N)’s side and Percy having his arm hang around both of them. The three of them were like this all the way through the remainder of the night. It wasn’t until morning light began to creep through the blinds that Percy got up to make breakfast for the three of them. (Y/N) and Keyleth stayed on the couch, Keyleth kept her arms wrapped around (Y/N)’s waist while (Y/N) held Keyleth and checked her phone. She had two text messages. One from Matt and one from Vax.

**_Matt:_ ** _ Where are you??? _

**_You_ ** _ : Sorry, I didn’t leave a note. Keyleth had an emergency and I had to rush over. I’m with her at Percy’s.  _

(Y/N) sent a quick reply to Matt before she looked at the text from Vax.

**_Vax’ildamn:_ ** _ I need you to meet me and Vex in Room 203 in the History Building at 8:30. It’s important. _

“I just got a text from Vax. He wants me to meet me in the History Building at 8:30.” (Y/N) said.

 “He sent me one too, saying it’s important. Do you think he or Vex saw something like we did?” Keyleth asked.

 “Maybe. We should go anyway and tell them what happened. Percy, do you want to come with us?” (Y/N) asked Percy, who was making toast.

 “I have nothing better to do until twelve, so sure.” Percy said. He finished making the toast and gave it (Y/N) and Keyleth. The three of them soon finished breakfast and headed over to the  university. They soon arrived and made their way to the History Building. Upon entering Room 203, they found Vax pacing back and forth and Vex sitting on the teacher’s desk.

“Hey. We got your text. Is everything ok?” Keyleth asked. Vax hurried over to them while Vex hopped off the desk.

“There’s things we need to tell you. Something happened last night.” Vax said.

“You brought Percy with you?” Vex asked, looking at Percy.

 “Yea. I hope you don’t mind, we were at his house last night. Um what exactly happened last night?” (Y/N) asked.

“This is going to sound crazy and stupid but I need to tell someone else beside Vex what happened. Last night I had a weird dream. It was all a blur, and I can’t really remember it all, but the one thing I do remember is seeing three daggers. When I woke up, I was hyperventilating for no reason. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw something moving. It was a freaking snake! It slithered up to my feet and then coiled itself into a circle. Then in a flash it turned into a belt with the same three daggers I saw in my dream.” Vax said. He took off the backpack he was wearing and opened it. Reaching in, he took out a belt with three daggers attached to it. One was a normal dagger, the second was curved with a gold pattern braided on one side, and the third dagger’s metal was red with a red gem on it’s hilt.

“That actually doesn’t sound as crazy as what we went through.”(Y/N) said and explained what happened to her, Percy and Keyleth.

“Well, it’s good to know we weren’t the only ones who went through whatever we went through.” Vax said.

“What about you Vex? Did you have a vision or dream?” Keyleth asked Vex.

“Mine was a dream.” Vex replied. “I was standing  in a forest. In front of me was this brown bear cub. I kneeled down and pet it and in one blink of the eye it was full grown, wearing armor and holding a bow and quiver in it’s mouth. I woke up and Trinket was by my bed with with the same bow and quiver in his mouth.” She reached into Vax’s backpack and pulled out a finely crafted bow and a quiver of arrows.

“We don’t know where these things came from. The front door was locked, the windows were shut. They just appeared like magic.” Vax said.

“From what I experienced last night magic might actually be real.”(Y/N) mumbled.

“That’s not the only thing. I checked our website this morning and there was a message from someone anonymous. It said, “Vex and Vax, I need you and your friends to meet me in Room 203 in the History Building. My friend has gone missing.” We don’t know who sent it but they obviously know us and that you guys are our friends. I texted Pike, Grog, and Scanlan, and they’re on their way now. If you guys had something happen to you like what we did, they might’ve too.” Vax explained. (Y/N) nodded.

“So Percy, how exactly did you make that gun? You would need proper tools to do that sort of thing. Not to mention that making that gun is probably illegal.” Vex asked. Percy’s shoulders grew tensed.

“I..uh..tinker in my spare time. The tools, I already had but I didn’t know I had the right materials.” Percy explained.

“That’s an interesting hobby to have.” Vex said. While the five of them waited for Pike, Grog and Scanlan to show up, (Y/N) showed Vax the sword, and Keyleth and Vex talked about what happened to them with each other. Eventually Grog and Pike arrived.

“Hey, Me and Grog got the text you sent. Is everything ok?” Pike asked. 

“Yea, I need to ask the two of you something--”Vax was interrupted as Scanlan came running into the room, panting out of breath. He took a few breathes and faced his friends.

“You guys! I was singing while getting ready and lighting shot out of my fucking crotch!” Scanlan exclaimed. “I don’t know how it happened! I hit a high note and then there’s this giant bolt of lighting being shot out of me.” Pike stared at Scanlan with shock while Grog looked at him with excitement. 

“That...I was going to ask you about that.” Vax said.

“You wanted to know if Lightning was shooting out of us?” Pike asked.

 “No. I wanted to ask if anything weird happened to you guys last night? Or you guys saw or experienced something that’s definitely not normal.” Vax asked and turned his attention to Scanlan. “Scanlan did you see anything before lightning shot out of your...nether region?”

“Well...no. Not really. I mean I slept weird last night but nothing weird happened before the lighting. Why did something weird happen to you guys.”

“Yes. I’ll explain what happened but I want to know what happened to Grog and Pike. Did you guys experience anything last night?” Vax asked Pike and Grog.

“Yea, actually. Something did. I was at the church praying to Sarenrae for comfort and reassurance on the big medical test I have next week. I finished up and was getting ready to leave when one of our volunteers burned her hand pretty bad when lighting the candles. I went over to help her and when I touched the burn, there was a warm glow coming from my hand. I moved it away and the burn was gone. It just disappeared. I don’t know how it happened.” Pike explained. “Grog told me this morning that he had a weird dream last night. Grog, do you want to tell them. ”

“Yea. I don’t know where I was but I was surrounded by these black blodges of sludge and I had an axe in my hand. I felt a lot anger inside me and I heard something tell me to use that anger. So I took the axe and released all that anger I felt on those black blobs of sludge. When I woke up, there was a bag laying on my chest. I couldn’t see anything inside it but I turned it upside down and an axe and a mace fell out.” Grog explained.

“So let’s get this straight. (Y/N) has a necklace that can turn into a sword, Keyleth can control water, Percy made a gun, I have a belt that can turn into a snake with daggers, Vex has a bow and some arrows, Pike can heal stuff with her hands, Grog can utilize his anger to destroy shit with an axe, and Scanlan can shoot lighting out of his crotch when he sings. Now I want to understand what the fuck is going on.” Vax said.

“There is no real explanation to what all of you experienced last night.” Everyone turned to see a woman with blonde hair wearing a blue pants suit walk into the room. 

“What do you mean Professor Allura?” Keyleth asked. 

“What I mean is that nothing can explain what happened or what the eight of you saw last night. Science can’t explain it, logic can’t explain it. It just happened. And now you guys have abilities or posses items that unknown to this world.” Professor Allura explained. “That’s why I asked you to come meet me here.”

“You were the one that sent the email to our website?” Vex asked.

“Yes. That was me. I need you to help me find my friend, Kima, she was last seen in the underground city of Kraghammer. I believe she was going to Underdark, said there was something down there she needed to find.”

“Did she say what it was?”Vex asked.

“No. That was the last I had heard from her. She’s been missing for about two weeks.” Professor Allura said.

“And why do you want us to find her?” (Y/N) asked.

“There are things in the Underdark that no mere man can kill. Like I said, you guys now possess abilities or items that can go against what resides down there.” Vax looked at his friends who gave him confused or questioning glances.

“Can you give us a minute to talk this over?” He asked. Professor Allura nodded. Vax lead everyone to a corner of the room and gathered everyone into a huddle.

“I need your guys thoughts on this. Usually this is a thing that only me and Vex do, but it looks like the Professor wants all of us to work together to solve this case. So. What do you guys think?” Vax asked.

“Well, it seems to be just a normal missing persons case to me. Nothing crazy.” Vex said.

“But why should we trust her? I know that she’s your guys’ teacher and she’s nice, but she knows about what happened to us when none of us told her.” Grog said

“Grog's right. She knows what happened to us. What if this is a trap so she can capture us and use us as experiments to understand what the hell we can do!” Scanlan exclaimed. Everyone turned to look at Scanlan and gave him a weird look

“Ok...but why shouldn't we trust her? She knows what happened to us, so maybe she can explain why. And there's nothing to show that she would have any ill will towards us.” Keyleth said.

“She went to us to help find her friend instead of the police. It means she trusts us more than the police themselves.” Vex said.

“And what if it isn't just a normal missing persons case.” Percy piped in. “Like Vex said, she went to us instead of the police. The police are normal people, and at the moment, we aren't normal.”

“I think we should go. Someone could be in really bad trouble. They might be hurt.” Pike said.

“Pike's right. Someone could be in danger, and we could be the only ones who might be able to help.” (Y/N) said. Everyone stayed silent as they mulled over what they should do. Then Vax sighed.

“Are we all in agreement to do this?” Vax asked. Everyone was hesitant, but all nodded. “Ok.”

They all broke out of the huddle and turned to Professor Allura who was still waiting.

“We’ll help you find your friend Professor Allura, but we can’t start looking until tomorrow when we don’t have classes.” Vax told her.

“I’ve already excused you from all your classes for today.” Professor Allura said.

“What? Why?” Pike asked.

“You don’t know how to control what you can do. I don’t think you can explain why a blast of light shot out of your hand to one of your professors. I think it’s best that you start trying to find her now while testing out your abilities.” Professor Allura said. Everyone gave each other a contemplative look before she spoke again

“Of course, you will need some form of transportation to get around the Underdark. I’m sure this carpet will suffice.” Professor Allura said and motioned to a rolled up carpet by the desk that was just now noticed.

“Um Professor, how is a carpet a good means of transportation?” Keyleth asked.

“My dear, with what all of you have experienced in the last few hours I’m sure you would have the knowledge to think that everything is not as it usually is.” Allura said and made a motion with her hand. The carpet unfurled itself and levitated a few feet off the ground.

“I do hope you can find my friend. I have all my faith in you.” Professor Allura begin to walk away but stopped and turned around. “Oh and Percival you’re going to need a much bigger gun than that.” She made another motion with her hand and an even bigger gun than the one Percy made appeared in his hands. Professor Allura then turned back around and left the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Accepting Professor Allura’s case, Vox Machina begin their descent into The Underdark, but they end up running into a little trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Cider and I finished Chapter 3. Sorry for the wait, but it’s finished and now we get to delve into some action. Yay! Hope you enjoy.

Vax pulled up and put the minivan in park in one of the parking spots of the entrance to the abandoned subway station.

“You sure this is the place?”Grog asked.

“That’s not actually where Kraghammer is located. Professor Allura said we have to go underground through the subway station.”(Y/N) informed Grog. Everyone got out of the van and made their way to the entrance. Upon first glance of it, they noticed there was a grate that was locked to the ground, blocking their way in.

“Well, it’s locked. Guess we’ll have to find another way in.” Scanlan said. Vax crouched over the lock and took out his lock picking kit.

“Scanlan, we’ve been friends for a long time. So you should be well aware that a simple lock doesn’t stop me from getting where I want to go.” Vax said. He twisted his pick and the lock popped right off. He took hold of the grate and lifted it up allowing them entry into the subway station. Vex switched on her flashlight, illuminating the way. The subway station was sprouting with underground plant life. Vines and vegetation grew along the walls and the abandoned rails were covered in rust.

“Why’d they shut this place down?” Pike asked.

“Too many homeless people were living in the tunnels that the trains would go through. They tried kicking them out and fencing the places they were coming in from, but the homeless always managed to find their way back in. Not wanting to be sued with public endangerment, they shut it down. That didn’t stop the homeless though, which is good because where they reside is where the Underdark is located.” Vex explained.

They travelled down the subway tunnel, following the train track until there was a break in the wall. The entrance to the break had an old matience sign above it. The word “Kraghammer” was spray painted over the sign’s original words.

“Alright, we don’t know what to expect so stay close. If we get seperated, use the earnings Allura gave us” Vax told everyone as they entered the underground city of Kraghammer. 

 

Kraghammer was not technically a city, but the homeless that lived there liked calling it one. As Vox Machina walked through Kraghammer, they passed by many people with dirty faces and tattered clothes. There were many tents and pieces of stained cloth and fabric strung up to offer  somewhat decent shelters. The people of Kraghammer gave the college students questioning and suspicious glances as they passed by, some frightful ones towards Grog. Vax managed to ask a person where the location of The Underdark was. They pointed in a direction and hurried off. Going in the direction that was pointed out, the group eventually made it to a wall with a massive hole that looked like something had burst through. The words “The Underdark” were written in black spray paint above the hole in the wall.

“Looks like this is the place.” (Y/N) said.

“Do we really have to do this? I mean it looks really dark in there and this hole doesn’t really look like a natural outcropping. More like an animal or a beast suddenly broke through.” Scanlan said.

“I mean if you want to be a wuss about it, you can go back. Shame you won’t be able to impress Pike with your new lighting powers.” Vex said absentmindedly and looked at Scanlan. He looked offended.

“I am not a wuss!  _ You guys _ are the wusses for not heading in first. It’s obviously not scary.” Scanlan said with confidence, giving Pike a glance. “I’m going in, unless any of  _ you _ are too scared to join me.”

Scanlan then boldly walked through the entrance of the Underdark.

“That’s the Scanlan I know.” Grog said with a smile. He took out his axe from the magic bag and followed after Scanlan.

“You know that was a mean thing to do.” Pike said to Vex.

“It was all in good fun darling, I was just teasing him. Besides, it got him to go in anyway. Now, let us venture into the Underark.” Vex said as the rest of Vox Machina followed. Not a few seconds after, they ran quite literally into Scanlan, who was running in the opposite direction towards the entrance.

“Where’re you heading buddy? Did you seriously leave Grog behind?” Vax asked him

“Well you see there was this scary noise and Grog went charging after it. I would have...bravely went with him but I wanted to make sure you guys were still behind us.” Scanlan replied with a sheepish smile.

“Sure you did. C’mon let’s go after him.” Vax said and headed in the direction that Grog went in.

“Why’d you leave him behind Scanlan?” Pike asked

“I can’t see that well down here and you guys are the ones holding the flashlights! Allura said there was things down here that no normal human being can kill. I’m not just going to go running into the darkness with things probably lurking in the corners!” Scanlan explained.

“I know. I think it’s just better we stick together.” Pike told him.

They continue their decent and eventually caught up to Grog who was standing in front of what looked to be a campsite near the drop off a cliff that they were now standing on.

“Hey guys, I found a  weird campsite down here!” Grog said. The campsite consisted of a fire that was still glowing in the middle with two sleeping bags next to it. Grog ran over to one of them and slashed it’s bedding.

“Wait Grog that’s not a good idea-”Keyleth was unable to finish her sentence as three crossbow bolts flew at them. Two of them hit Grog.

“Grog!” Pike exclaimed. Then, four shapes came lumbering out of the darkness. Three of them were medium, pale skin duergars, the other appeared to be a large over swollen brain with a set of claws.

“What the fuck are those things?” (Y/N) asked. 

“I don’t know. But they’re blocking are way.” Vax said and grabbed one of the daggers from his belt.

“Wait, are we fighting those things?”Scanlan asked, alarmed.

“It’s the only way to get past them.” Vex said and un slung her bow from her shoulder. 

 

Vax was the first to move, he ran and hid himself behind a rock, waiting for one of the duergars to come his way. (Y/N) summoned her sword and charged towards the duergar in front of her. Swinging it down, the the blade moved with ease as if this was natural for her. It made contact and (Y/N) slashed at one of it’s limbs. Pike also went to attack the duergar, but missed. Vex stealthy moved and joined her brother behind the rock. Scanlan frantically looked at the monsters before him and tried to think of something to do. His eyes then lighting up once he got an idea.

“Here goes nothing.” He hummed a low note and pointed at the area where the brain and the other three duergars were standing. In that area a  giant, green cloud magically appeared, giving off an awful stench. The duergars that were caught up in the cloud began to hack and cough, dropping their attack stances. The brain, unaffected, moved out of the cloud and turned its attention to Grog. Grog felt an intrusion in his mind, and then a blast of  excruciating pain. He then fell to the ground catatonic. 

“Grog!” Pike yelled as she watched him fall. Anger rose in her chest and Pike charged at the brain, slamming her mace at it. She hit, holy energy traveling down her arm and through her mace. The brain shattered with pieces of it being flown everywhere. Vex peered over the rock she was hiding behind and effortlessly released two arrows at one of the coughing duergars, both of them hitting. The duergar inhaled sharply from the pain, causing some of the stinking cloud to travel into his lungs. He released a breath and stumbled down, not moving. The remaining two duergar nervously looked around, one of them coughed and began to speak in a weird language. Vex was the only one who understand what it says.

_ “Quick, that’s our exit. Back! Back to the master.” _ It spoke.

“Back to the master…?” Vex repeated to herself. Her brother gave her a weird look.

“What are you talking about?” He asked.

“That’s what the thing said. I can understand them!” She exclaimed.

“You can understand them? How-Nevermind. We’ll address this later.” Vax said and peered over to get a view of the battlefield. Scanlan looked at Grog’s catatonic body. Not knowing if it will work, he tried to dispel the magic on Grog. 

“Wake up Grog!” He sang. Arcane energy swirled from his fingers to incircle Grog. No effect.  Percy took out his pepperbox gun and fired at the remaining duergar, a female, that had not been hit yet. A bullet hits her in the shoulder, blasting a chunk of flesh off and exposing bone.

“Let one of them live so we can question them!” Vex called out.

“Got you one right here.” Percy called back. Keyleth finally took her action. She lifted her hand in the air and concentrated. A bolt of lighting came down, slamming into the duergar (Y/N) was engaged with. The other duergars continued to hack and cough, not being able to get an attack in. Vax sprang up from the rock and took out one of his daggers. Holding his breath he entered the stinking cloud. But the gas willed it’s way into his nostrils and he let out a cough, a wave of nausea beginning to form in his stomach. (Y/N) moved closer to her duergar and went to attack. The duergar was ablet stumbled out of the way of the attack and moved a few steps back, close to the dropoff of a cliff. Vex moved and took aim at it. The arrows hit and the duergar stumbled back, falling off the cliff.

“ _ Surrender!” _ Vex yelled out in Undercommon to the female duergar, who was the last one left. The duergar looked around, realizing there was nothing left to do, and dropped her weapon, falling to her knees. Vax took out rope from his bag and walked over to the duergar, tying her up.

Vex then turns to Scanlan. “Scanlan can you drop that stink cloud?”

“I can try.”Scanlan hummed a matching pitch that he hummed to summon it, and the cloud disappeared. 

 

Once everyone saw that there was no further danger, they calmed down and began to catch their breath, but their main focus was on Grog, who was lying limp on the cavern floor.

“Grog! Grog can you hear me?” Scanlan yelled out to his catatonic friend. (Y/N) walked over to Grog and slapped him in face.

“I didn’t think that would work but...fuck. What happened to him?” (Y/N) asked. 

“He doesn’t look like he’s hurt. He just looks like he’s unconscious.” Pike said. Keyleth looked at the remains of the weird monster brain, lost in thought before looking back at Grog.

“I think...I think I might be able to release him from whatever effect he’s under. But I would have to do it after we rest. Fighting took a lot out of me.” Keyleth said. The four of them started discussing whether they should rest or keep going while Vex turned her attention back to the surrendered female duergar. Vex made her way over to it, Percy following behind. Vex motioned to Vax, who took out one of his daggers and held it to the duergar’s throat.

“What did you do to our friend?” Vex demanded, speaking in the duergar’s language. The duergar let out a small chuckle.

“I didn’t do anything. That was the brain’s work.” she said, her voice scratchy.

“What did the brain’s work do to our friend?”

“Took care of your friend. He’s gone now. All dead inside.” The duregar said and let out another chuckle. Vex turned to Percy.

“What should I ask it?” She said, now speaking in common.

“Ask it if it knows how’re supposed to fix Grog.” Percy told her.

“How do we fix our friend?” Vex turned back to the duergar and spoke it’s language.

“Bury your dead weight.” The duergar gave a toothy smile. Vax pressed the blade a little tighter to the duergar’s throat. Percy, noticing the many wounds on the duergar, fired off his gun, the blast ringing throughout the cavern. He pressed the burning tip to one of the wound, cauterizing the wound while burning the duergar who cried out in pain. This drew the attention of (Y/N), Keyleth, Pike, and Scanlan, but Vax gave them a look and they turned their attention elsewhere.

“Who do you work for?” Vex asked.

“You fell, surface-slime. You’ve already fallen, and the Master’s gathered the sheep. You shall all be harvested for K’Varn!” The duergear exclaimed.

“Who is Kvarn?”

“K’Varn is the one that rules these caverns. The one who guides us to take the surface back!”

“Where is K’Varn located?” Vex said. The duergar looked over her shoulder back towards the darker parts of the cavern where Vox Machina had yet to explore. 

“What is K’Varn?” Vex asked. The duergar gave a little chuckle.

“You’ll see. I’m just relishing your faces, for they will be gnarled and twisted soon enough!” Vex let out a frustrated sigh and then fixed the duergar with a look like piercing daggers.

“Tell me, have you seen a small woman down here?” The duergar gave a look of recognition.

“There was a woman. She was foolish enough to come down here alone. She’s dead now. We’ve taken her life and it was delicious.” It said. That was enough for Vax. He angeredly dragged the duergar to its feet and walked it over to the edge of the cliff, still holding it with the knife still at its neck. Vex followed.

“Now’s your last chance to give us anything useful.” She said. The duergar laughed.

“Your friend’s dead! All is lost! You came for nothing!” Vex gave an insightful looked at the duergar, it was lying through its teeth just to hurt her.

“I know your lying.”

“Regardless, we have her. She’s down below. And soon enough, you’ll see. You’ll see what shall become of your friend.” Vex glared at it.

“We’ll rescue her. And we’re going to kill your god.” With that, Vex gave a motion and Vax pushed the duergar over the cliff’s edge. It let out a loud cry that echoed off the walls before fading out. Vex, Vax and Percy walked back to the others.

“Have we decided on taking a rest? We can’t go anywhere until Grog’s back to normal and to do that Keyleth needs to regain her energy.” Vax said. Everyone nodded. They were all worn out from the fight and decided to give their aching bodies a break. Pike dug through Grog’s magic bag and pulled out some bedrolls for everyone, while Vex looted the remaining dead bodies of the duergar.

“I found a weird stick thing. I think it’s a wand.” She announced. Scanlan immediately called dibs on it and Vex gave it to him. Once everything was set up, Vox Machina agreed to take turns watching the campsite. Keyleth took the first watch, spending her time concentrating on her new found magic abilities. It wasn’t until after Vex and Vax finished theirs that something interesting happened during Pike and (Y/N)’s watch. (Y/N) looked above the fire pit and noticed a symbol carved into the stone above. It looked to be a symbol of some sort.

“Pike.” She said and pointed to the symbol. “Do you recognize that symbol?” Pike looked up from checking on Grog and took a look at it.

“Yea. Yea I know what it is. It’s a symbol of Bahamut, it’s used for protection and is usually carved at the entrance of a church.” Pike explained. 

“Allura told us that Kima was a follower of Bahamut. Do you think she was the one that carved it?” (Y/N) asked.

“Possibly. That must mean that this was her campsite-” Pike was cut off as the round started rumbling beneath them. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. Maybe Grog farted?” (Y/N) said. Pike shook her head.

“No. C’mon help me wake the others.” Her and (Y/N) quickly woke everyone up and alerted them of what has happening, but once everyone was up, the rumbling stopped.

“What happened?”

“Did Grog fart?”

“There was a rumbling in the ground. We didn’t know what caused it but we woke you guys up in case something was coming to attack.” Pike explained.

“But of course, once we woke you, it stopped. Sorry about that.”(Y/N) said.

“It’s fine guys.” Vax said. “I suppose since we’re all up, Keyleth can prepare to wake up Grog?”

“Yea, Yea I guess I can do that now. I think that I might be able to do it.” Keyleth said. She took a breath and kneeled in front of Grog. Everyone stepped back a foot or two to give her some space. There was a few moments where Keyleth did nothing, trying to think of what to do. Then she closed her eyes and placed one hand over Grog’s forehead and the other she started using to draw symbols in the air. Light followed her finger pattern as the symbols hung over Grog’s body. Keyleth’s lips were moving but none of Vox Machina could hear what was spoken. Keyleth finally drew the last symbol and whispered the last incantation as a brief glow formed around Grog’s body. Grog took a sudden gasp of air as his eyes flashed open.

“What happened? Did I kill it?” Grog asked as he looked to see his friends standing over him with anxious looks.

“A monster did something to your brain and knocked you out. Keyleth was able to undo what it did and bring you back to normal.” Pike explained. Grog looked over to Keyleth who gave him a small smile.

“THANK YOU KEYLETH!” Gorg exclaimed as he pulled Keyleth into a tight hug.

“Hng-You’re welcome” Keyleth said with a struggle. Grog released her and stood up.

“Alright, what we killing next?”


End file.
